Recent College Graduates Moving to Hawaii?

byVern Lovic

Here is a note I received this morning from a mother concerned that her son is being unrealistic about moving to Hawaii. For the time being I am able to create posts here to reply quickly. Jump on this opportunity, because when I get bogged down again it sometimes takes weeks, sometimes months.

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Dear Vern,

I found your website as I was looking for pros/cons about moving to Hawaii.

My son, 23 college graduate with a BA in Criminal Justice and his girlfriend 22, HS graduate-and a nurses aide are moving in March 2013.

They have limited resources- a couple thousand $ at best in savings… they are house sitting for 6 weeks and need to pay the utilities while they are staying there… they have use of a car while house sitting. (no car afterwards)

My question is that is any of this reasonable? They only have a one way ticket… and with the limited $ resources will their adventure be anywhere in reality?

I am sure you understand my concerns. Ms. P has been there before and has always wanted to return… understandably.

I do think they are going into this with rose colored glasses on. I have done some research on the cost of living, homelessness, jobs, etc.

Do you have any concrete information to help me think this is a good idea, given the limited $ resources and limited education (for her) and little job experience for him?

I would appreciate a response.

Sincerely,

Sarah H.

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Hi Sarah,

If I understand you correctly, your son and g/f intend to move to Hawaii and are using the house-sitting idea to get in there and find jobs and work everything out in the six weeks time they have. Wow. Yeah, it sounds pretty far fetched, but, who knows what people are capable of? There are probably security jobs available somewhere. He might get that. There are lots of entry-level jobs on Oahu. You didn’t mention which island, and that matters a LOT. Oahu – they’d have the best chance. Other islands, I think not much chance unless they both took any job possible and were very frugal – living in a very cheap place and taking public transportation, or getting bicycles. Mopeds are cheap once they get jobs.

Success is not likely, but, not knowing them personally I’d never say they’re going to fail at it. I say, let ’em have a shot at it and see what happens. They either want to live there bad enough to make it work, or they don’t. Who knows which it is until they are there and living the dream, so to speak? Lol.

If you haven’t already found it – this page has links to most of my articles about Hawaii:

About the author: Moving to Hawaii was one of the most amazing moves ever. I strongly encourage you to consider it if you’re in the financial position to make it work. Living in Hawaii has a fair bit of both positive and negative experiences awaiting each of us who give it a try. Read some of the articles here and try to get a feel for whether you might thrive in the islands. I wrote an entire book on the subject and it’s usually less than $5. It’s up there on the right side column. Best of luck and life to you! Aloha! – Vern L.